Monday, October 16, 2006

Turkish security forces killed a militant of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in a clash in the southeastern province of Sirnak on Sunday, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported. A statement by the local governor's office was quoted as saying that patrolling security forces encountered a group of PKK militants near Senoba village of Uludere town in Sirnak province and the clash occurred when the PKK militants opened fire at the security forces who called on them to surrender.

The PKK, which was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, recently announced a unilateral ceasefire as of Oct. 1, saying it wants to pave the way for a resolution of the conflict through dialogue.

However, the Turkish authorities have interpreted the PKK's ceasefire as a tactic aimed at countering Turkey's increasing pressure on the U.S. and Iraq to take concrete action to eliminate the group based in northern Iraq.

The PKK has launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.